"round of 16 predictions to move on in state cup and perhaps win it all?"

The right side of the bracket is a strong favorite, but it's anybody's guess as to who will emerge. Despite all the banter on this board (much of it seems to be just an attempt to get someone else's goat), EB, TSF, Parsippany and Match Fit Black are all at a similar level and any of them could win it. That said, a few of the teams on the left side have a relatively easy path to the final, so I wouldn't discount one of them pulling the upset.

I predict Cedar Stars Newark will win. St. benedict's is a top notch HS program and now they've partnered with Cedar Stars and offer a residency program, attracting a lot of top talent. Even the mighty Red Bulls should watch out!

Just saw the NJYS State Cup (not to be confused with the NJ CUP) racket for the first time.

Really seems like somebody doesn't like Gottschee. Not only did they draw MF Blue in the first round of the NJ Cup, but now they have NJ Force in the State Cup 1st round with the winner getting MF Black in the round of 16!

The crazy part is that teams like STA Jackson Athletico, PDA Jinky and Princeton Spurs all get 1st round byes! And if STA Jackson Athletico (whoever they are?) can beat the Washington Utd/Aresnal Maximus winner in their first game they'll advance to the quarter finals!

For whatever GS rankings may be worth, the 13th ranked team in the State (Arsenal Maximus) will play the 70th ranked team in the State (Washington Utd) with the winner getting the 30th ranked team in the State (STA Jackson Athletico) in a round of 16 match.

But in another bracket, the 7th ranked team in the State (Gottschee) will face the 12th ranked team in the State (NJ Force) to see who gets the #1 ranked team in the State (MF Black) in the round of 16.

An interesting thought. But it doesn't explain how NJ Force (who participated last year) would be given such a nasty draw (Gottschee and then MF Black if they win the first round game) while Arsenal Maximus (who didn't participate last year) would get an easy trip to the quarters.

I hope it's just random but I doubt that. So I'm left thinking NJYS either has chips on their shoulders for certain clubs, based this on who paid first or are just plain clueless. And any one of these three would be disappointing.

I will say that the goal that gave TSF the win was a botched back pass that the goalie messed up. CSA Newark are a good team who had a mix of academy players and St. Benedicts players who are talented. TSF had to show defensive resilience as they were putting 10 men up. I do think TSF has a shot at winning the State Cup however they will have challenges in their way . They did beat MF Black 3-0 last time they played and beat Parsipanny 1-0 so they have a good chance. This years State Cup ending should be very entertaining

Just for the sake of clarity, the event you are discussing is the "NJ Cup" and not the "State Cup."

The NJ Cup is a US Club Soccer event that is now playing the 2nd round. The NJYS State Cup has yet to begin.

And while some of us were complaining that the "lower left" bracket in the NJ Cup was weak, the brackets in the upcoming State Cup are just plain silly. So for this reason alone, I would consider the NJ Cup to be a more interesting event.

One other differentiating factor of note is that Rooney did not enter the NJ Cup while Parsippany is not in the State Cup. Most other teams of note are playing in both tournaments.

And all of this is somewhat pointless as posters here will continue to refer to both tournaments as the "State Cup anyway."

Going back to the posts here a while back about Gottschee playing a "qualifying" game for the State Cup, I believe you must have played at least 3 NJ teams over some recent time range to qualify. So that might explain why Parsippany is not in this one as they play in that NY league.

Not sure why Rooney passes on the NJ Cup but they didn't play in it last year either.

Odd that Mainland isn't in this year's State Cup to defend their championship.

But for the most part, the good teams in the state play both.

And for whatever it's worth, GS recognizes the State Cup winner as the State Champ.

Just got off the phone with the State, they confirmed that they have it in for Gostchsee and NJ Force. They just say it's a randowm draw but they spent extra time this year, putting those teams in a bad draw. They asked that I kept it to myself.

Kudoos to the State and Buddy Hart for scheduling all the state cup games in Pittsgove/Burlington. It centrally located for everyone in the state correct? No! Th only thing dumber than that is the stting up the draw and how it reads from round to round.

Although the goal that gave TSF the win was very lucky, it appeared to me that they were the better team with more opportunities throughout the game. The TSF keeper did have to make one spectacular save but TSF hit the post and missed a penalty. On another note, the Parsipanny blue team is leaps and bounds better than their B team so I wouldn't be too surprised to see a Parsipanny Blue vs. TSF semifinal in the NJ cup.

parsippany white better than blue team? not sure about that. yes they killed staten island gunners but are staten island gunners a team to use in any sort of comparison. im sure any of the top teams in nj could beat them by 3-5 goals

I didn't watch the match, but playing defensively is not a bad thing. If you think you're a better team playing on the counter-attack, play that way. I will say that winning is not something to be underestimated, as anyone can beat anyone in this age group. We say that last night with NJ Force and Princeton Tottenham.

Surprised to see no one has made mention of the weekend results from the NJ Cup.

No "Black and Blue" final this year as NJ Force has knocked MF Blue out.

And Mainland has bowed out as well having lost to Princeton Spurs.

April 5, 2016 at 11:48 PM"And I think we may see some upsets on the left side. I actually think NJ Force has a shot to get to the semifinals from the upper left and maybe even one of the Princeton teams from the lower left."

Gottschee has weird issues. In their state cup game they went with 2 subs one of which was injured. They were short 2 starters including their striker and couldn't score. They seem like a part-time club at times and it leads to inconsistency.

the comment about "any of the top teams in nj could beat them by 3-5 goals" was referring to staten island gunners, not parsippany white who beat them 5-1, which was mentioned after someone stated "Should be easy match for Staten Island" and "I would probably rank them 4 or 5 In the state over parsippany blue." parsippany white is not a top team in the state, but would not get hammered by any of them, as seen in the tsf game

Well, I would have though the same but it seems like Parsippany White is one of the only teams to beat Staten Island by a large margin. Staten Island beat Princeton Tottenham and DOL, tied New York SC and Brentwood, and lost to TSF, NJ Force, SDFC, and Copa all by one goal. So that statement of "any of the really good teams in NJ could beat them by 3-5 goals" is not right. Staten Island's high press is difficult to deal with for many teams.

The scrimmage that the TSF person said a while back was a lie because gottschee has not played any scrims. I'm a parent of the Roma team and I can promise you we haven't. If they say they did play gottschee we'll show me a video or pictures because we always record our games.

I was at the gottschee v. DOL game. It wasn't that much of a close game, gottschee missed so many shots including one where the number 10 chipped the keeper but hit the crossbar and went out. Also a lot of their shots just went near the side bars. But the one thing I did question was the disallowed goal that the ref called in the first half. He said it was an offside when the the player behind the defense let the ball go through so that the teammate on side could score. Although I did say before that it wasn't that much of a close game it was difficult for gottschee to get through the defense in the first half. The first half was probably the closes part of the game. Second half was the part where I say it wasn't a close game because DOL couldn't pass the half unless by blasting the ball to gottschee's side so that the keeper could get the ball.

I hope that's true because I was at their game today and New Jersey force took out 3 of gottschee starting players. The ref did a poor job once the first kid got injured and thus two more kids did from gottschee. I don't expect gottschee to do well knowing that they lost a midfielder, main forward, and their key center back.

The concerns about EB look to be legit as they were knocked out of that other State Cup today by STA.

And newcomers MF Blue and SDFC are both gone here too after falling to Mainland and Logan.

But I keep harping on the draw here as Monroe (who I don't recall winning a game since U12) have made the quarterfinals and await the winner of the MF Black/Gottschee matchup. And one of STA NPL, STA Athletico or Arsenal Maximus will make the semis.

Who cares about the draw. The best should make it through anyway whether they play each other in an early round or beat the weaker fodder first. It will be the same usual teams in the end and probably the same complaints about refs, red cards, parents, field conditions. Are you expecting anything different? And yes, agree, EB on the decline, MF Blue not there just yet and good to see the newcomers SDFC and Monroe.

"And one of STA NPL, STA Athletico or Arsenal Maximus will make the semis."

When the brackets are set up so that stronger teams knock each other out in the first round while less accomplished teams need only to beat each other to advance to the semifinals, you have a poorly organized event. The idea is to give the stronger teams an opportunity to compete when the championship is in sight. Not when they still have to win 3 or 4 more games to get there.

So this one won't have "the same usual teams" in the end as a number of them are already gone and at least one team that no one could have possibly expected will get, at most, just one game from the final.

And the NJ Cup isn't that much better as the "lower left" bracket didn't include enough of the strongest teams. Sorry, but neither SJEB or Princeton Spurs have ever shown me anything that looks like what I'd expect from a State semifinalist.

The organizers made a mess of both of these, although the NJYS debacle is the worse of the two.

So what if stronger teams play in a first round or semis? The cream will rise to the top. Doesnt matter if they play each other early or late. Eventually they will have to play one another. Unless the it's an ego thing or a point thing with you. Which it sounds like. Some may like the cinderella STA or Arsenal story. Sounds like sour grapes. Were you eliminated today? If so, sorry. If not, you should enjoy the weaker teams still being around so you can beat on them next week.

Can't imagine how you are missing the obvious here. The NJYS State Cup quarter finals will include only 8 of the 25 teams that entered the competition. Yet this year, 3 of them will be teams that no one would have dreamed were good enough to accomplish this. And it's not because Daveys knocked of Goliaths. It's because Daveys knocked off other Davey's while the Goliaths took care of each other.

So this is really 3 "Cinderella stories" if you wish. And that's way too many Cinderellas for the competition to have much validity. Sorry, but there just aren't that many silver slippers to go around.

Someone is taking U16 Youth Soccer waaaaay too seriously. Don't worry, you'll get your points. There can only be one winner anyway. Enjoy it for the couple of years you have left! In 5 years all your points will have vanished and this will be a fond memory.

MF Black are in both state cups? Talk about a need for points. I'll never understand why there isn't one concrete state cup but I don't see MF winning either one. Lose to PDA Rooney in final of NJYS state cup and lose to TSF in NJ Cup (if they get past Parsipanny which is no easy task).

There was just one state cup until about 8 years ago when good old American competition (on the business side) kicked in. The USYS (ie: NJYS here in NJ) State Cup was the clear State Championship until this point.

But then along came US Club Soccer to compete with them. And over the ensuing years, the automation they offer (along with better customer service in general) created competition. Simple fact is that US Club became significantly easier to deal with than their more traditional competitor.

So now we have two State Championships with the US Club version called the NJ Cup (as opposed to the more traditional State Cup}. and some teams qualify for entry in only one of these (although most can play in both).

In the end, it probably all works out okay...unless Rooney (who doesn't play the NJ Cup) and TSF or Parsippany (who don't play the State Cup) are the winners, Because if this happens then we don't know who the real champ is.

any other good nj cup fixtures besides parsippany match fit? that should be an interesting match and i wouldnt be surprised to see extra time or a single goal win for either side. i say 1-1 and maybe parsippany slips through but MF are looking like favorites

Calm down. Looking at Logan's recent history, they are more than qualified to win the NJYS State Cup. It was you that put "national championship" in the same sentence. Sheesh. Like any NJ team is capable of that.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and I am sure that there is talent on your squad like all teams. In all reality, any team can beat the other on any given day in every sport including club soccer. No argument there. These boys are playing their hearts out in every game and giving it 110% in every game. Unfortunately, too many parents take this way too seriousl too the point where there is anymosity & insults. If your boys knew how ridiculous your posts were, they would be mortified. Just enjoy!

Matchfit beats Parsippany in pks. Outstanding effort by Matchfit playing with 10 men but Parsippany struggled with there pressure. Parsippany dominated the whole game and had almost all possession. One mistake cost them otherwise they had it in the books with full possession and control of the game. Anything could happen in pks and we got the result. Classy match between them both but Parsippany dominated and I believe they were clearly the better side in this match.Looking like Matchfit will win this state cup.

Parsippany dominated because they had an extra man for 60 minutes. For the first 20 minutes it was an agressive and even match.

It's a shame Parsippany did not take advantage of the extra man and the possession, because they could have won this. They actually sat back and allowed MF to pressure them instead of the other way around.

I had Parsippany winning this one. Matchfit definitely showed me something and this applies to most teams..to win being down a man for 60 minutes to a very good team, they demonstrated that heart wins games. It would have been the same if Parsippany was down one as well. Matchfit has a very tough game ahead. TSF beat them in their last meeting. It should be a very good game. Good luck to both teams.

Not so sure I can agree with this. I thought Parsippany had the better of this one from the kickoff. And while the advantage they had in possession and passing was surely enhanced by the sending off, I's say they were enjoying much the better of it even before the red card.

But when you score only one goal, conceding an equalizer negates much of your good work and leaves you in the crap shoot that is PKs.

one mistake cost parsippany... end of story. They dominated MF with 11 and 10 players but massive credit to match fit boys for capitalizing on their one out of two opportunities in the match. that is what makes it such an amazing game. penalties will always be an unfair decider but that's the game. unlucky for parsippany (who I think otherwise would have won the cup) with going out early and we will now most likely see MF go on to win the rest. what are others' takes on this

MF clearly sat back after going down a man. Parsippany looked content to try and nurse the one goal lead. They were content to play with the ball in the back and for much of the game MF let them. Then with about 15mins left MF came out and pressured the ball and turnovers started happening. Parsippany clearly took their foot off the gas with a 1 goal lead. Turned out to be a very poor decision. Tactically MF outplayed them.

Interesting how Parsippany, Penn Fusion and NYSC all sent their B teams to Delco. Surprisingly, both Penn Fusion B and NYSC B were put in the second flight at Delco, despite not havig neither the ranking or the results to support this. Did Delco think they were getting the first teams?

Meanwhile, Parsippany B were flighted below both Stallions teams in the 5th bracket despite both stallions teams being very poor this spring. Unfortunate for those players.

The biggest point about both Potomac and Delco is that the best teams seem to be split between the two, though Potomac's lower flights appear to be much stronger. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

From one who been less than excited about TSF of late, I must congratulate then on their win over MF Black. That's 3 in a row against them, right?

Also, and with all due respect to the Parsippany supporters, the TSF/MF match was really the best game of the tournament...so far anyway! The Parsippany/MF game should have been a semifinal. The TSF/MF game was the real final!

There you go, whoever said TSF vs MF should have been the final. Give teams credit where credit is due, and acknowledge that literally anyone can beat anyone in this age group. Let's stop being elitist and judging teams on their performance instead of predisposed, biased opinions.

Damn bunch of sore losers everywhere. Every time you don't win its the refs fault and the opposing team parked the bus, even though parking the bus is a completely respectable tactic that professional teams use and succeed with.

Unfortunately, there were a few games that have been decided by poor refs.Congrats to SJEB but this is as big of a fluke as Mainland winning the State Cup last Spring over PDA. I hate to agree but SJEB representing the state of New Jersey is somewhat of a farce. Please do not make us look bad!

I watched the second half of the SJEB v DOL game. Ref was bad. DOL doing the usual flopping, rolling around on the ground, grabbing and playing chippy. SJEB just played physical and DOL didn't like it. Ref called a PK late in the game and Barons converted. Call it karma. DOL has won more games from diving in the box then 10 teams combined. Afterwords, players and coaching MF'ing the ref. Classy!!!

seems like parsippany was the only team that couldn't park the bus successfully ! congrats to SJEB... I'm sure the rest of the teams in NJ won't be too thrilled with them going to nationals though in their place

It has very little to do with going to Nationals in their place..SJEB is just nowhere near a top team in the state and is in no way indicative of the talent that is in NJ. We did not play in the NJ Cup. TSF would have at least made NJ look respectable.

In terms of playing what we all call "the beautiful game" there is no team in NJ that plays more beautifully than Parsippany. In the few games I've seen them play, their possession and understanding of the game is incredibly fluid and a very high level. Based solely on playing style, they are the best team in the state.

With that said, as the NJ Cup shows, playing "the beautiful game" and out passing the opposition does not necessarily produce results. If that were the case, Barcelona and Bayern would never lose. There is a certain sort of beauty in a team tactically getting results by playing to their strengths. Would everyone rather watch a Barcelona v Bayern game than an Aston Villa victory over Arsenal? Yes. But you still have to accept and respect the lesser quality team getting a victory. So stop being upset about SJEB winning NJ Cup and respect that victory.

Hey buddy your comparisons are dumb and biase comparing u16 youth teams to Barcelona is dumb but u You say parsippany is the best team in the state and they lost to matchfit and then say respect SJEB win.If you were at the game I would like the hear your input but u weren't but when my team plays parsippany and wins I'll be sure to tell you cause now there the best team in the state

Congratulations and respect to SJEB for winning. Did anyone notice they did not give up a goal the entire NJ Cup run. The won 2-0, 2-0, 1-0 and 0-0 in final. They earned the Cup. Upsets in sports happen, just look at Villanova beating North Carolina and who would have ever thought Leister City would win the EPL. The opponents that lost to them showed respect and congratulations. Same here for SJEB.

Logan has one goal scorer and that is it. No one else scored and the coach plays his awful son the whole game. The bench is soft and relies too much on the starters who aren't anything special. MF black will easily cruise past them

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